"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
Edmund Burke. What happened on this Day in History?

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

This Day in History: Sep 11, 2001: Attack on America

At 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines
Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashes into the
north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact left a
gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper,
instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in
higher floors. As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway,
television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared
to be a freak accident. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a
second Boeing 767--United Airlines Flight 175--appeared out of the sky,
turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south
tower at about the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive explosion
that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and the streets
below. America was under attack.

The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several
other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin
Laden's al Qaeda terrorist organization, they were allegedly acting in
retaliation for America's support of Israel, its involvement in the
Persian Gulf War, and its continued military presence in the Middle
East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more
than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight
schools. Others had slipped into the U.S. in the months before September
11 and acted as the "muscle" in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily
smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast
airports and boarded four flights bound for California, chosen because
the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey.
Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took
the controls, transforming the ordinary commuter jets into guided
missiles.

As millions watched in horror the events unfolding in New York,
American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington and slammed
into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m.
Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to a
structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building. All
told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon
along with all 64 people aboard the airliner.

Less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center of
the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic turn for
the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a
massive cloud of dust and smoke. The structural steel of the skyscraper,
built to withstand winds in excess of 200 mph and a large conventional
fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning
jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m., the other Trade Center tower collapsed. Close
to 3,000 people died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity,
including a staggering 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City
police officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers who were
struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the
office workers trapped on higher floors. Only six people in the World
Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost
10,000 other people were treated for injuries, many severe.

Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane--United Flight 93--was
hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in
New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers
on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone
and Airfone calls to the ground. Knowing that the aircraft was not
returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers
and flight attendants planned an insurrection. One of the passengers,
Thomas Burnett, Jr., told his wife over the phone that "I know we're all
going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something about
it. I love you, honey." Another passenger--Todd Beamer--was heard saying
"Are you guys ready? Let's roll" over an open line. Sandy Bradshaw, a
flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped
into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last
words to him were "Everyone's running to first class. I've got to go.
Bye." The passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to have
attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane then flipped
over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour,
crashing in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 45
people aboard were killed. Its intended target is not known, but
theories include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Camp David
presidential retreat in Maryland, or one of several nuclear power plants
along the eastern seaboard.

At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who had spent the day being
shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to
the White House. At 9 p.m., he delivered a televised address from the
Oval Office, declaring "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of
our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.
These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American
resolve." In a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he
declared: "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who
committed these acts and those who harbor them."

Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led international effort to oust
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden's
terrorist network based there, began on October 7, 2001. Bin Laden was
killed during a raid of his compound in Pakistan by U.S. forces on May
2, 2011.